Per Storemyr Geoarchaeology & Conservation

Forvitring av kleberstein på middelalderkirker – to videoer

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Per Storemyr

Hvorfor forvitrer kleberstein? Foredrag om den gotiske vestportalen på Utstein kloster i 2017. Screenshot AM-UiS

Tidligere i år holdt jeg to foredrag om forvitring av kleberstein sett i lys av bygnings- og restaureringshistorie. Det dreide seg om portaler fra norsk middelalder og foredragene ble holdt på «Portalseminaret» i regi av «Domkirken 2025»; miljøet som nå restaurerer Stavanger domkirke og som jeg også er en liten del av. Alle foredragene fra seminaret (og mange andre interessante saker om restaureringen) er nå lagt ut på YouTube.

Kanskje kan mine to foredrag være til hjelp for folk som sliter med å forstå hvorfor kleberstein forvitrer. Veldig mye dreier seg om hva bygningene har vært utsatt for av forandringer og restaureringer gjennom tidene. Men noe av forvitringen kan også knyttes til steinkvalitet, tidligere luftforurensning og ikke minst vann! Rett og slett lekkasjer! Innholdet i foredragene er i stor grad basert på min gamle doktoravhandling The Stones of Nidaros fra 1997 og mange artikler om forvitringshistorie, bl.a. Weathering of soapstone in a historical perspective. SE VIDEOER!

Posted in Monument conservation, New publications, Norway, Weathering history | Tagged conservation, historic photos, Kleberstein, Norway, soapstone, weathering | Leave a comment

Experimental archaeology: Building a “classic”, intermittent limekiln and burning marble at Millstone Park, Hyllestad, Western Norway

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Per Storemyr

The freshly built, classic limekiln at Hyllestad. In operation, June 2017.

It took us about six months: Building a cylindrical, intermittent limekiln of the classic Roman/Medieval type with local materials only – stone rubble and clay. In June this year (2017), we built the firing chamber, filled the kiln with 2.5 tons of local marble and started burning. A week, night and day, with much of the local community involved! Here’s an extended photo story of the project – the first of its kind in Norway. Media was interested! A national radio story here, a local newspaper story here (in Norwegian).

The quicklime (burnt marble) will be tested at Selja medieval monastery and other restoration projects in Norway. Big thanks to all, 30-40 volunteers and paid people (see list at the end) and support from The ruin restoration programme of the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, as well as Hyllestad Municipality! The project was carried out by The Norwegian Millstone Centre/The Museums in Sogn og Fjordane County. Continue reading →

Posted in Marble, Monument conservation, New projects, Norway | Tagged experimental archaeology, Hyllestad, kalkbrenning, kalkovn, lime burning, limekiln, marble | 13 Comments

Update after long absence – follow on facebook

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Per Storemyr

Over the last six months I’ve been immersed in practical and scientific works and so I’ve been unable to write sensible blog posts on this website. I guess most bloggers experience something similar once in a while. If you want to get an idea of what I’ve been up to, please follow me on my personal facebook profile. There you can find brief news about e.g. building and running a “medieval” limekiln at Hyllestad in Western Norway, and various projects across Norway; from rock art in Finnmark county up north to stone conservation at Stavanger cathedral in the south.

Now I’m on a combined study tour and holiday in Ireland and Northern Ireland, focusing on geoparks and heritage, and having just visited Giants Causeway:

Posted in New projects, Other | Leave a comment

Happy New Year from the most beautiful old quarry in Western Norway!

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Per Storemyr

A medieval millstone quarry taken over by a creek in rainy Western Norway: At Hyllestad, the largest Viking Age and Medieval quarry landscape in Northern Europe. Photo by Per Storemyr

A medieval millstone quarry taken over by a creek in rainy Western Norway: At Hyllestad, within the largest Viking Age and Medieval quarry landscape in Northern Europe. Photo by Per Storemyr

With a picture, taken today, of a splendid little old quarry in Western Norway, I wish all my clients, partners, colleagues – and those who read my blog and website – a Happy New Year! Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Norway, Old quarries | Tagged Happy New Year, Hyllestad, millstone | 2 Comments

Geoarchaeology of the famous ancient amethyst mines in Wadi el-Hudi, Egypt: Desert heritage at risk

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Per Storemyr

A fading raw amethyst from Wadi el-Hudi, Egypt. The purple variety of quartz. Photo by Per Storemyr

This fall I joined the Wadi el-Hudi expedition to the famous Middle Kingdom amethyst gemstone mines in the Eastern Desert south-east of Aswan. The expedition is led by Dr. Kate Liszka of California State University San Bernardino (US), and over the last few seasons it has excavated and documented the ancient mining settlements in very high detail. My task was to take a closer look at the geoarchaeology – to try and understand relationships between geology and mining. It is hugely important to document what is left, for the ancient mining area is now at high risk from looting, modern gold mining and stone quarrying. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Heritage destruction, New projects, Old mines, Ruins | Tagged Amethyst, Ancient mining, Egypt, Middle Kingdom, Wadi el-Hudi | 4 Comments

Fra Aswan til Hyllestad. Hva er et steinbruddlandskap?

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Per Storemyr

Aswan, Egypt. For et par år tilbake. Transport av stein slik det ble gjort for tusenvis av år siden. I et landskap der steinbrytning tok til allerede i eldre steinalder. Foto: Per Storemyr

Menneskene har brutt stein til alle mulige formål siden tidenes morgen. Men hva er et steinbruddlandskap? Hva kan vi si om alle de millioner av steder der folk har tatt ut stein? Fra den tidligste steinalder til i dag? Det var temaet jeg fikk til et foredrag på det 14. Hyllestadseminaret i slutten av april 2016, i regi av Norsk Kvernsteinsenter. Dessuten skulle jeg snakke om hvordan steinbruddlandskap kan formidles. Jeg innså raskt at oppgaven var helt umulig. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, New publications, Norway, Old quarries | Tagged Aswan, Cultural heritage, Hyllestad, quarry, quarry landscape | Leave a comment

Gneiss for the Pharaoh: Geology of the Third Millennium BCE Chephren’s Quarries in Southern Egypt

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Per Storemyr

Located far south in the Egyptian Western Desert, Chephren’s Quarry is the world’s oldest large-scale quarry for sculpture and stone vessels. Photo by Per Storemyr

Chephren’s Quarry. A name imbued with splendour. It was not the first quarry from which stone vessels and sculpture were provided in Ancient Egypt, but it was definitely the most spectaular one. Work started here, far south in the Western Desert of Egypt, already by the Predynastic period or earlier. By the Old Kingdom, 4500 years ago, it was a huge work site, comprising 700 quarry pits in the flat desert, covering an area of some 50 square kilometres. With Tom Heldal as the lead author, Ian Shaw, Elizabeth Bloxam and I have now written an account of how geology shaped Chephren’s Quarry. It is a story spanning millions of years, explaining the beauty of this hard, bluish stone – and how it could be exploited. Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, New publications, Old quarries | Tagged Ancient Egypt, Chephren's quarry, quarry | Leave a comment

Gamle steinbrudd som UNESCO-verdensarv? En analyse

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Per Storemyr

“Dronninggruva” i kvernsteinslandskapet i Hyllestad, Ytre Sogn. Her er ICOMOS på besøk i nominasjonsprosessen mot verdensarvsted i 2014; man blir vist rundt av godt trente unge guider fra Hyllestad skule. Men verdensarv-prosessen er nå på vent og veien videre høyst uklar. Foto: Per Storemyr

Det er nesten ingen gamle steinbrudd på UNESCOs verdensarvliste. Det er ikke bra, for steinbruddene var helt sentrale produksjonssteder for verktøy, husgeråd, våpen, boliger, kunst, monumenter, arkitektur, skulptur. Kort sagt en vesentlig del av hva som var viktig i gamle samfunn – og i dag: Store deler av verdens kulturarv er jo basert på brytning av stein. Spørsmålet er: Hvor går veien videre for gamle steinbrudd som verdensarvsteder? Kanskje Norge burde fremme en egen steinbruddsnominasjon? Eller kanskje dette rike landet burde hjelpe mindre bemidlede nasjoner med å få eldgamle steinbrudd inn på verdensarvlisten? Man kunne jo starte i Egypt, landet med den største konsentrasjonen av gamle steinbrudd i verden. Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Old quarries | Tagged Hyllestad, old quarries, UNESCO World Heritage | 4 Comments

Også et stykke verneverdig Norge: De 60 steinbruddene ved middelalderens klosterruiner på Selja, Hovedøya og Rein

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Per Storemyr

Norges fineste gneisbrudd fra middelalderen: Helt i fjæra og rett ved siden av klosterruinene på Selja. Foto: Per Storemyr

Riksantikvarens bevaringsprogram for middelalderruiner dreier seg ikke bare om istandsettelse av ruinene. Det dreier seg også om forskning for å forstå hvordan bygging av klostre, kirker og borger foregikk. Geologi og steinbrudd er en naturlig del av dette temaet. Nå foreligger det en omfattende rapport om steinbrudd ved tre av Norges mest kjente middelalderklostre: Selja i Sogn og Fjordane, Rein i Sør-Trøndelag og Hovedøya ved Oslo. Det er funnet ikke mindre enn 60 steinbrudd. Men langt fra alle ble brukt til klosterbyggingen. For landskapene var lokale ressurssentra for stein nesten opp til våre dager. Hvordan registrerer og bevarer vi slike steinbruddslandskap? Det er også et av temaene i rapporten. Den er utarbeidet av Per Storemyr i samarbeid med Riksantikvaren og de respektive fylkeskommuner og er tilgjengelig i Riksantikvarens Vitenarkiv.
Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, New projects, New reports, Norway, Old quarries | Tagged ancient stone quarrying, Cultural heritage, gneiss, Hovedøya, limestone, Norway, olivine, Reinskloster, sandstone, Selja, soapstone | 2 Comments

Happy New Year! With a cavalcade of images from 2015

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Per Storemyr

The rock art at Alta never ceases to fascinate! Here from the Kåfjord site in the fall of 2015. I’m very grateful that I’ve been able to work with the good people at The World Heritage Rock Art Centre – Alta Museum for some years now. Photo by Per Storemyr

I wish to thank my clients, partners, colleagues and followers of my website for a fine year! The very best to you all for 2016! With a cavalcade of images, I would like to sum up a few 2015 events. First of all, I was finally able to finish my book on the history of stone quarries, which was published jointly by The Restoration Workshop of Nidaros Cathedral and the Geological Survey of Norway. But my work took me to many parts of Norway, from a Mesolithic quartz quarry near Arendal, deep down south, to the fascinating rock art at Alta, far in the north. Though I was not able to visit Egypt in 2015, I’m still publishing papers on the geoarchaeology of quarries in the desert landscape, together with good colleagues.
Continue reading →